Kukla's Korner Hockey

Maxim Afinogenov is a terrible liar. The Buffalo Sabres winger was asked about the secret injury he suffered last spring in the playoffs.

“What do you mean in the playoffs?” Afinogenov replied with the awkward indignation of a nervous child standing next to a broken vase. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Unbeknownst to the devious Russian, his coach already had told the tale….

“Max, while warming up playing soccer in the playoffs, flipped over backwards and hit his head on the concrete before Game Three in Long Island,” Ruff said, “and I don’t think he was right for a little while after that.”

Afinogenov bonked his head early in the first round, and, in Ruff’s opinion, the injury hampered the speedster’s play well into the second round.